40 
GEOLOGICAL REPORT-THIRTY-FIFTH PARALLEL. 
and other places shows that the surface of the country was nearly the same as now at the time 
of their erection. 
Coal .—The sides of the valley above the lava are, according to Mr. Marcou’s notes, of rose- 
colored micaceous sandstone in beds from 15 to 40 feet thick. At the base of the cliff, how¬ 
ever, blackish grey shales occur, containing beds of yellow limestone three feet thick. Several 
beds of marl are very black and bituminous, and contain seams of coal from six inches to one 
foot thick. Captain Whipple observes of this coal that the specimens appear good, but the 
quantity is probably small. A specimen of it is in the collection, (see No. 98 of the catalogue,) 
and a full description of it is given in Chapter X. The quality of this specimen is not good, it 
being full of impurities and yielding a large quantity of ash. It more resembles recent 
coals of the Tertiary formation, than the deposites of the Carboniferous period, hut it is not 
possible to decide upon its age. 
Thirty miles north of this locality, and on the road to Fort Defiance, Mr. Campbell found 
similar dark-colored shales, bituminous, and looking as if coal was in the vicinity. This is, 
without doubt, the extension of the same deposite, as the whole country is formed alike and the 
strata are horizontal. It is also most probable that the deposites of coal found by Lieutenant 
Simpson, east of the Sierra Madre and north of the volcano San Mateo, are of similar age. The 
beds at Laguna and Las Lunas, and which have already been noticed, (page 36) may also he 
included. The bed noticed by Simpson is found in a table-mound, and is a horizontal layer 
between two beds of sandstone. It was also overlaid by gypsum. The other bed, in the Canon 
cle la Copa, is one foot thick, and when broken shows resinous particles. 1 
The lava stream which forms the walls of the spring Ojo Pescado, appears to extend much 
farther down the valley, and terminates a short distance beyond Camp No. 10. The Pescado 
river passes under this lava for several miles, and again emerges, to be then known as the Bio 
de Zuni. 
Zuni and its vicinity .—The town of Zuni, a short distance beyond Camp 10, is upon the 
borders of Zuili river, and, according to the observations of Mr. Marcou, is upon the Triassic 
formation—the reddish clays and sandstones which contain the gypsum. Grey and white 
sandstones are, however, found, but the bottom of the valley is entirely of rose or wine-colored 
strata. (Notes, November 25.) The lighter-colored sandstones of Cretaceous or Tertiary age— 
the Jurassic of Mr. Marcou—have been subjected to considerable erosion at this place, and a wide 
valley is formed by the union of the smaller valleys of the affluents of the Zuni river, the 
cliff’s of the white sandstone being removed to some distance from the river on each side. The 
ruins of Old Zuni, about five miles southeast from Zuni, are, however, on the summit of a bluff 
crowned by these strata. This bluff is said by Captain Whipple to be about 1,000 feet high, 
and has a broad flat summit a mile wide, covered with thick cedars. It is, in fact, an isolated 
mesa, limited on all sides by precipitous banks. These banks have been worn into many 
fantastic shapes by the action of the weather for ages, and here and there arches and columns 
are seen which seem to be the work of art, so regular and symmetrical are the outlines. The 
annexed sketch, taken by Captain Whipple from a projecting part of the summit, shows these 
peculiar forms, and has an additional interest from the fact that the column which stands alone 
near the main bluff is connected with the traditionary legend of the Zunians. It is supposed to 
be the petrified body of one of their tribe who was drowned to appease the Almighty at the time 
of their flood. Another column is found near, but is not seen in the sketch. 2 Very simila r 
columns are figured by Lieutenant Simpson and by other explorers ; indeed, they are very 
common on the borders of the table-lands west of the Sierra Madre. 
The explanation of the origin of these sandstone columns, and of the many other similar 
shafts found in that region, is very simple. They are formed in the same manner as the 
1 Simpson’s Navajo Report, p. 72 
2 This tradition is interesting, and is another form in which the almost universal idea of a deluge is found among heathen 
nations. The tradition is partly given by Lieutenant Simpson in his report, and more fully by Captain Whipple, p. 67. 
